^47 




[No. 3. 



REPORT 



OF THE 



Rhode Island Representative 



Meeting of the EonnoR of the Thirteen Original States, 



MADE TO 



HERBERT W. LADD, 

0oocrnov of ftljok Manlr. 



PROVIDENCE: 

E. L. FREEMAN & SON, STATE PRINTERS. 

1890. 



REPORT. 



State of Rhode Island, 

Adjutant General's Office, 

Friday, July 8th, 1889. 
His Excellency, Herbert W. Ladd, 

Governor. 

Sir : — In accordance with instructions given by Your Excellency on 
the 2d inst., to officially represent the Governor of this State, at a 
meeting of the Governors of the thirteen original States, to be held in 
Philadelphia, on Thursday, the 4th day of July, I have the honor to 
make the following report : 

I proceeded at once to the city of Philadelphia, and on the 4th inst., 
was present at the meeting of the Governors, or their representatives, 
of the thirteen original States, held at the Continental Hotel and also 
at the subsequent meetings holden in Independence Hall, and at the 
banquet given to the representatives of the thirteen States, by the 
Citizens' Committee of Philadelphia, at the Wissahickon Inn, on the 
afternoon of the same day. Upon this last named occasion respond- 
ing for Your Excellency, when the State of Rhode Island was called 
upon, and pledging its support in carrying out the object of the meeting. 

I take the liberty to present herewith as my report of the proceedings 
of the day, portions of the report made by the Philadelphia Press of 
July oth, of the proceedings of the 4th inst. 

" Governors or their representatives from nine of the thirteen origi- 
nal States met in Common Council Chamber yesterday and passed a 



4 REPORT OF REPRESENTATIVE TO GOVERNORS MEETING. 

resolution empowering the Executive Committee of the Centennial Me- 
morial Association to draw up a memorial and bill to be presented to 
Congress in furtherance of the erection in this city of a memorial in 
commemoration of the Declaration of Independence and of the first 
century of the Constitutional Government. With the representatives 
of the States was a committee representing the City of Philadelphia. 
Governor Beaver was unable to be present at the meeting though he 
presided over the banquet which followed. 

The whole party met in Parlor C, of the Continental Hotel, after 
10 o'clock. There were present, Governor Jackson, of Maryland ; 
Deputy Attorney General Thomas Davis, of Delaware ; Governor R. 
S. Green, of New Jersey; Lieutenant-Governor Edward F. Jones, of 
New York ; Ex-Governor Hugh S. Thompson, of South Carolina ; 
William Wirt Henry, of Virginia, grandson of Patrick Henry ; Gov- 
ernor D. G. Fowle, of North Carolina ; Colonel William A. Tower, 
representing the Governor of Massachusetts ; and General Elisha 
Dyer, Jr., of Rhode Island. The Citizens' Committee consisted of 
John W. Woodside, Chairman ; E. C. Knight, A. P. Colesberry, John 
L. Lawson, Theodore E. Weidersheim, Colonel Charles H. Banes and 
P. P. Bowles. Colonel Jesse E. Peyton, of Haddonfield, N. J., and 
John Lucas were also there. At quarter of eleven they left the Con- 
tinental and proceeded down Chestnut street to Independence Hall, 
where the meeting was to take place, and were welcomed by President 
Gates, who said : 

"In consequence of the absence of His Honor, the Mayor, the 
pleasing privilege devolves on me to welcome to this hall and to the 
City of Philadelphia, the distinguished representatives of the original 
colonies. We feel that Philadelphians have no restrictive ownership 
in this hall ; we are simply its custodians. The people of the thirteen 
original States, and the people from the remote region of this nation 
will always find a welcome to the precincts of this historic hall. In 
this hall, on June 7, 1776, that distinguished representative from 
Virginia introduced that great resolution from which was evolved the 



REPORT OF REPRESENTATIVE TO GOVERNORS' MEETING. 5 

Declaration of Independence. On July 2d it was presented to the 
body, on the -3d discussed, and on the 4th announced." (Applause.) 

Governor Fowle responded : " The Governors of the original States, 
or their representatives, already feel that they have received a warm 
and a cordial welcome to this home of American Independence. (Ap- 
plause.) The invitation was extended not only to the original thirteen 
States, but to the whole nation, when the old Independence bell went 
through the country ringing out those same peals which announced 
that America must and will be free. You referred to tbat action of 
one of Virginia's representatives. Let me tell you that when the time 
comes for Virginia to place her shoulder to the wheel, you will not only 
find her but every other Southern State to the fore." 

THE MEETING IN COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBER. 

The party, after inspecting the numerous relics of the Revolution, 
repaired to Common Council Chamber, where an organization was 
effected by Governor Green taking the chair, and Alexander P. Coles- 
berry being selected Secretary. Lieutenant-Governor Jones offered 
the following, which was adopted: 

" Resolved, That the citizens of Philadelphia having appointed an 
Executive Committee of thirteen, with full power to act in all matters 
with the Governors of the thirteen original States, that committee be 
invited to take part in the proceedings of this meeting." 

Governor Green announced that he had been instructed to invite 
President Gates to participate in the deliberations. 

Letters approving of the object of the meeting and offering hearty 
co-operation were read by the Secretary from Governors of Kentucky, 
Maine, Nebraska, Indiana, Colorado, Illinois, Arkansas, Vermont, 
West Virginia, Iowa, Kansas, Wyoming Territory, Utah, Montana, 
Idaho, Missouri and Ohio. 

Governor Green then announced that the real object of the meeting 
was to take some decisive action for the erection of the proposed mon- 
ument in commemoration of the Constitutional Centennial, and to bring 



6 REPORT OF REPRESENTATIVE TO GOVERNORS' MEETING. 

it before Congress "so that," he said, " we will see the commence- 
ment of the memorial before we pass away." 

Governor Fowle offered a resolution " that the Governors of all the 
States and Territories be requested to meet the second Wednesday of 
December next, at Washington, for the purpose of urging upon Con- 
gress the appropriation of a sum to erect a suitable memorial to com- 
memorate the celebration of the Constitutional Centennial and the first 
hundred years of constitutional history of the Government of the 
United States." 

" Resolved, That the Executive Committee of the Centennial Me- 
morial Association be requested to cause to be prepared a suitable 
memorial and a proper bill, to be presented to Congress, in furtherance 
of the erection of the proposed memorial in the City of Philadelphia,* 
commemorative of the Declaration of Independence and of the first 
century of our Constitutional Government, said memorial bill to be 
submitted to the adjourned meeting of the Governors in December . 
next." 

After adjournment the party took carriages and drove out to the 
Spring Garden Institute, where the model of the Centennial buildings 
and grounds, executed by Mr. Baird, was duly inspected and admired. 
From there, undeterred by the heavy rain, they drove slowly out 
through the park and up along the Wissahickon, reaching at length 
Wissahickon Inn, where they sat down to a banquet table laid in one 
of the private dining rooms. 

Respectfully submitted, 

ELI SH A DYER, Jun., 
Commissioner, representing Rhode Island. 

Providence, July 13, 1889. 

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